Number in series 70; Year of publication 1986 - Fell and Rock ...

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H.M.Kelly and J.H.Doughty 23The first blow of the new campaign may be said to have been struck byG.S.Bower in his ascent of Route D on Gimmer Crag in May, 1919; but allother doings of that vintage year were eclipsed by the performances of thatremarkable triumvirate, C.G.Crawford, C.F.Holland and H.M.Kelly. Of these,Holland formed a direct link with pre-war climbing: he had been with Herfordand Sansom on their exploration of the Central Buttress. A great climber, aneven greater inspirer, he has probably exerted more influence on ambitiousyouth in the climbing world than any other man of our time. His knowledge ofthe crags was extensive, his courage boundless, his temperament ideal.Holland's eye for a route, Crawford's cheery optimism in conjunction with hisremarkable aptitude for the sport, and Kelly's technical skill in leadershipformed an irresistible combination when these three got together. They firstswept clean the face of Scafell Pinnacle, climbing every route already knownupon it, and making numerous variations of great merit. They next transferredtheir attentions to the west face of Pillar Rock, which has had a curious history.Although the Rock had proved a focus of attraction for more than half a century,exploration was for a long time concentrated on the northern, southern, andeastern sides, and Atkinson's original route in 1826 remained in solitarysplendour on the western face until 1901, when the brothers Abraham workedout their ingenious and entertaining New West Climb. Then in 1911,H.R.Pope led the South-West Climb, a delicate face route of high standard.Thus we had three climbs spread over nearly a century. Within a fortnight thenumber was more than doubled; on 27th July they repeated Pope's climb andimproved it by a direct finish. Two days later Holland led them up the Rib andSlab Climb, and Kelly made a new route up the West Wall of Low Man.Crawford and Holland now turned back to Scafell, while Kelly went off toGable with R.E.W.Pritchard, and added three first-class routes to the fourpreviously known on Kern Knotts. On 9th August he was back at Pillar, andalong with Holland made two further routes of superlative difficulty up the westwall of High Man. It was truly a wonderful year, and before closing its accountwe must mention the ascent of the Great Central Route on Dow Crag byJ.I.Roper and G.S.Bower. Though not a climb of great length, this was of thesuper-severe standard which the climbing world was now for the first timecoming to take as a matter of course, and it had for its own crag much the samedetonating effect that climbs like the Central Buttress and Routes I and II onPillar had in other fields.The story of the next year is largely concerned with the exploits ofG.S.Bower. Besides accompanying Kelly and Pritchard on two notable routeson opposite sides of Deep Ghyll, he was himself responsible for quite a numberof additions to the climbs on Gimmer, Pavey Ark, and Dow Crag, and brokeentirely new ground by his climb on Esk Buttress, a course giving 400 feet ofsevere climbing.It was now becoming clear that climbing had entered upon a fundamentally193
24 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIMBING - PART Inew phase. What had been regarded a few years before as the unapproachableplane of performance attainable by occasional gifted geniuses like Jones,Botterill, Herford, was now looked upon rather as the norm by which ourleading climbers measured their own achievements. Virgin rock was approachedin a new spirit of confidence and enterprise. It was not that the best men wereany better than the giants of the past, but they were more numerous, while thestandard of ability among climbers in general had increased enormously. Thequickened interest in climbing and the rapid growth in technical skill werestimulated by the timely appearance of two books, H. Raeburn's MountaineeringArt, and G.Winthrop Young's monumental Mountain Craft, in which theproblems of climbing technique were handled with a fullness and clarityunapproached hitherto.The first wave of post-war activity had by no means spent its force in theachievements of 1919-20 which have already been detailed; and although therewas nothing later which quite matched those wonder-years in splendour, firstascents, continued to pour in for a good many years in a fairly steady stream. Itis impossible within the limits of this account to particularise more than a few ofthese, and the basis of selection is perhaps a little arbitrary, so that the readermay take it that for every climb mentioned there are at least two or three more ofapproximately equal merit. Among the major crags, attention was chieflyfocussed on Dow Crag, Gimmer, and the Napes. The last named cliff was prettythoroughly combed by various enthusiasts among whom C.D.Frankland andFergus Graham were prominent. Further east, Kelly and Bower added to theirrespective successes Tophet Wall and the repulsive (looking) Innominate Crackon Kern Knotts. Meanwhile Bower was continuing his explorations of the moreholdless sections of Gimmer and Dow Crags, and in connection with theseclimbing grounds especially the name of H.S.Gross became increasinglyprominent. His successive Eliminate Routes conformed to the best standards ofcontemporary severity, whilst the magnificent Girdle Traverse of Dow Cragwas worthy to rank with its famous counterpart on Scafell.After the great successes of 1919, it is not surprising that we have little freshto record on Scafell Crag. The second and third ascents of Central Buttress weremade in 1921, 1922 by C.D.Frankland and A.S.Pigott respectively. In 1925 theenterprise of Fergus Graham in forcing a direct route to Moss Ledge showedthat even the Pinnacle Face was not quite exhausted, and in the following yearKelly found a new route up the Central Buttress by way of the Moss GhyllGrooves.We have said that it is impossible to detail all the new climbs made at thisperiod; but some mention must be made of those enterprising explorers whocollected not merely new climbs, but new crags. They included, among others,Mosedale Buttresses (F.Graham), Boat Howe Crags (G.Basterfield andG.Graham Brown), Green Gable Crags (G.G.Macphee), and Black Crag,Ennerdale (the Wood-Johnson brothers). In this class also may be mentioned the194
Page 1 and 2: 100 YEARS OFROCK CLIMBINGIN THELAKE
Page 6: EDITOR'S NOTESGeoff CramIn June 188
Page 9 and 10: 4 THE FIRST ASCENT OF NAPES NEEDLET
Page 11 and 12: 6 THE FIRST ASCENT OF NAPES NEEDLEb
Page 13 and 14: 10 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIM
Page 21: 22 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIM
Page 29 and 30: H.M.Kelly and J.H.Doughty 33for the
Page 31 and 32: H.M.Kelly and J.H.Doughty1892 Moss
Page 33 and 34: H.M.Kelly and J.H. Doughty1923 Toph
Page 35: 40 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIM
Page 40 and 41: John Wilkinson 47men: Birkett, Peas
Page 44 and 45: John Wilkinson 53are now Hard Very
Page 46 and 47: John Wilkinson 57have radically tra
Page 51 and 52: John Wilkinson 6 5being made by the
Page 53 and 54: John Wilkinson6SWith the opening up
Page 59 and 60: Pete Whillance 73good routes on Low
Page 67 and 68: A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIMBIN
Page 69 and 70: A SHORT HISTORYOF LAKELAND CLIMBING
Page 71 and 72: Ron Kenyon and AlMurray 89climbed b
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Ron Kenyon and Al Murray 91spotligh
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94 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLIM
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Ron Kenyon and Al Murray 97In the E
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102 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLI
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106 A SHORT HISTORY OF LAKELAND CLI
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110 THE NORTH-EAST SPUR OF THE DROI
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112 THE NORTH-EAST SPUR OF THE DROI
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ROCK CLIMBING IN NORTHERN ITALYAl C
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AI Churcher 119Sergent and Caporal,
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13 MILES FROM THE EQUATORRay Cassid
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Ray Cassidy 123and I suddenly found
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W. Heaton Cooper 127One element see
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June Parker 131show a new route bei
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136 THE ABRAHAM COLLECTIONwas a for
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140 THE WASDALE CLIMBING BOOKClimbi
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SCAFELL CENTRAL BUTTRESSG.S.SansomR
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G.S.Sansom 145bulge, above-mentione
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MORE OF C.B.Bill BirkettWhen the ed
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150 MOREOFC.B.ground, rather overha
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152 CLIMBING IN THE MIDDLE AGEStemp
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THE MAN WHO BROKE THE NEEDLEGraham
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G. Sutton 157tooth....'Ron's voice
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G. Sutton 159view; they must have b
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Ed Grindley 161A couple of hours la
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164 THE MODERN ICARUS!This was now
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166 THE MODERN ICARUS!Aware that I'
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Angela Soper 169whispered happily,
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172 THE WELL-OILED MACHINE - TWELVE
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174 THE WELL-OILED MACHINE - TWELVE
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A. Harry Griffin 111the same mould
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A. Harry Griffin 179merged together
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182 WAY OUT WESTone of them picked
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184 WAY OUT WESTseverity it was of
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186 WAY OUT WESTwho made me a pair
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SCOTLANDThe Fell and Rock members c
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Jim Sutcliffe 193June Parker report
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NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESAlan Murray & P
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198 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESIvor the Bo
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200 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESBLEAK HOW C
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202 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESJoker Man.
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204 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESPrivate Eye
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206 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTES6a. Climb t
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208 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESBURNT CRAG
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210 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESYEW CRAGAut
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212 NEW CLIMBS AND NOTESSilverstone
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214 IN MEMORIAMGladys died peaceful
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CLUB OFFICERS AND MEETS 225Libraria
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Number in series 70; Year of publication 1986 - Fell and Rock ...

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